Method of protecting iron.



J. J. BRADLEY. METHOD 0F PROTEGTING IRON. APPLIOATION FILED Emma, 1907.RBNEWED MAB. 7, 190e.

Arron/vn J. J. BRADLEY. METHOD 0F PROTBGTING IRON. l APPLIGATION FILED113.12, 1907. RENEWBD MAR. 7, 190s.

900,656, Patented Oct. 6, 1908.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

\4 Il` Y m N K A TTOHNE Y UNITED STATES-PATENT OFFICE..

-I'orezN J."BRADLEY, or BROOKLYN,

l To all whom 'it may concern:

NEW Yoan, Ass'IGNoR, BY .ME-SNE asslcNuE'N'rs,

To LILLIAN voN GEssNEE, OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK :jm-mon or inorzcrmomon.

l specification of Leetmratenf. l Application led February 12, 190

Be it vknown that I, JOHN J. BRADLEY, ua

`citizen of the United States, borough of Brooklyn, Stateof New York,

ave invented a ovement 41n t residing in the certain new and .usefulIm-y he Methods of Protecting on, of which the following is aspecification. I have discovered thatit is practicable to changeacontinuous stratum vat and just 13 wit.v th

e entire surface of an iron article to analloy or to an analogouscombination of Iron and hydrogen in 4conse uence be Well what wo dotherwise be estructive chem-- y experiments indicate that 15 icalaction.

and that the article Will result is still better for the presence 'ofcop er 'also in the alloy, and also for adding car n at a llate sl htdepth.

of operation forl stage topenetrate to-a very have devised, arr`apparatus and a method producing such alloy which is made the subject ofthe present patent.

I will make the new product the subject of a separate patent.

l show and Itwlllbe he accompanying draWlLg `forms 'a part ofth-isspeciiication.

In the figures Figure 1 is a face view of a o small n'on casting whichhas been treated ac onia larger scale.

5 alloy-or chaned l is ril'ulicated y "different 'directi which indicatet tion." The roma ratus. Fig. 4is

-5 is a vetial crossssecjion-of. themain tion ont e'me 5,-5-1n" .4and Filisyaiy, v

' 1g g form and Pl a removable head IGTGOI- The a larger scale. Y

In this latter Y metal ator near the surface section lmes running a`l-lnesf on from4 the section he body or unchan ed por-1 ining'gures showt e a j a longitudinal section..

asimilar letters of reference. indicatecorre spbnding parts i ap ear.

n all thfe figures where is the body of an iron casting preferably of ahard luality which requires very heat to m e metal t or appreciablysoften-.yl

at and near the, surface 1s changed by" theresene Yderail cithyarogenand cop high temperaturesare absorbed-1n smallr portionsand ind ese eementsfpreserted atucej a 'conditioninthefsur rotected against ofservice to hlg describe such new product also in this patent for themeans of production.

exposed vto the down further and-delivers the super-heated .steamthrough a. trumpet-mouth reduced jim; thl

support shelves that can be'easily drawn 110 Patented oct. e, 1908.

face metal which I will refer to as aly; It is found that iron canVabsorb hydrogen until the portionv near the surface contains an amountapproximating eleven`one-hun dredths of one per cent. of that oftheiron.` e0 The proportion of the copper,` I believe to be considerablyless. The i copper disappears into the solution but I have neverdetermined the precise rate. Itis probably not essential `to successthat the copper shall have any specie proportion.I he effect is promotedby treating the Whole surface or the portions thereofwhich are mostimportant to be perfect, by a sandblast or other convenient means forremoving the scale. The proportion of hydrogen and copper becomes lessand less from the exterior inward,-there is no dividing line,ATheadhesion of the'alloy is'as strong as any other part.. The alloymaintains its Original 75 condition for an indefinite period The alloy sless stro .than iron and may be inferior toiron' in glierrespects but itpossesses the y important quality of extraordmary resistance tooxidation or corrosion.

' The following gives what I esteema practicable form of apparatus andthe bestmode of operation. A

- C 1s the masonry of ai'urnace', C1. a door thereof, and' D a gratewith proper facilities 85 forsnpplying airfand fuel, anthracite; or cokeserve. E is a steam boiler arranged to be heated by thehot gasesdischarged from the urnace.`

` ,tls a steam ipe having convolutions F1 90 lliot gases. The pipe leadsM .1s a shell within the furnace. C which ay be removed at eachre-chargmg 1f desu'edfbut itis not usually necessary to do so. P is aninclosedfcruciblefof rectangular whole ora large part of this vessel Pis lined with copper Q secured by rivets Q1. Similar c op r s -acing maybe apphed to the she ves to be presently described. The cop-'rperjshould .be .of considerable thickness, say

will be furnace` is used,` per azyolatile condition with the'hydrogen-to permeate heinteriorof'the crucible P is' bearings Pat .the sides,-which ceives the steam and heats it more. i vlde the pipe P5 with alining which reduces `the iron or steel of this pipe.

' .may

out and replaced, and/'are adapted to receive and present to thehydrogen and to the fumesI of cop er mingled therewith the iron articleswhlc are being treated. ln the lower portion of the crucible are twohorizontal perforated partitions P3 and P4, the

space. between which is filled or nearl filled with finely divided ironS, preferab y iron steam is led from the vboiler through a properreducing valve G so vset that it will allow the steam to pass at onlyabout one pound per square inch above atmosphere.

. The steam in flowing through the convolutions F1 becomes much but notsui'liciently super-heated. The heat here is not Sullicient to decomposethe steam. The pi e P5 matches in the trumpet-mouth F2 an `rel prothetendencyT of the oxygen to combine with be effected at any previousperiod by first moderately heating and flowing melted borax (biborate ofsoda) through it andlthen while the entire inner surface 'of the ipe isviscous with the borax, blowing'iine y ulverized lire-clay through theipe land al owing the particles to adhere. ipe P5 de-l livers the steamvery hot into an causes it to pass upwardA through the mass of finelydivided hot iron S above; there the oxygen is absorbed,l and only thehydrogen of the steam flows up and bathes the articles and is absorbedinto all portion of the entire surface of each.

' The depth to which the gases shall penetrate and conse uently thethickness of the l alloy in the artic es being treated depends onseveral conditions, one of the most controllable of which is thetemperature which should be a bright cherry red and another theduration,-a treatment several hours gives a much deeper penetration ofthe hydrogen and copper than half an hour. In.

due timethe steam is tem orarily shut on, the door C1 is opened an thecrucible P with its contents drawn out and removed to any suitable placeto be slowly cooled and at length to be opened and emptied. Anothercrucible P' reviously prepared with a fresh lot of artic es tobegtreated is introduced into the furnace C andthe door C1 closed andy60 the Work is again resumed. The fresh cruci- This lining ble and itscontents thus introduced may be previously heated to shorten the time ofl believe the invention is applicable by about the same mode ofoperation to castiron, drop-forgings, and other forgings, eutiron,(aslnails, screws and nuts), sheet-iron of .all thicknesses, drawn iron,(as stamped work and wire), and all the grades of carbonized iron orsteel.

When my improvement is applied to the manufacture of articles intendedfor decorative purposes, the shapes should be prepared and entirelycompleted before the sandblasting and the other portions of mytreatment.

Into each batch before the cooling has progressed far, l introducenaphtha or other convenient hydro-carbon. 'lhis may be done byconnecting a hydro-carbon supply to the projecting end of the pipe P5and in jectingthe hydro-carbon in a vaporous form,-if it is not vaporousat first it becomes so, of course, before it has entered i'ar into thehot crucible. One effect is to give a line black to the surface.

Modifications may be made without (lcparting from the principle orsacrificing the advantages of the invention, Parts can be used withoutthe whole. rl.`he iinal treatment with hydro-carbon may be omitted.

I claim as my invention:

1. A method of treating iron articles by first shaping complete, secondsubjecting treatment necessary.

them at a high temperature to a bath comprising elemental hydrogen, andthird slowly cooling, all substantially as herein specified.

2 A method of treating iron articles by first shaping complete, secondsubjecting them at a high temperature to a bath comprising elementalhydrogen and copper, and.

third slowly cooling, herein specified.

3. The improvement in the art of protecting iron articles which consistsin suball substantially as jecting them at a high temperature to a bathcom rising elemental hydrogen and afterwar s to hydro-carbon and coolingslowly, all substantially as herein specified.

4. The improvement in the art of protecting iron articles which consistsin subjecting them at a high temperature to a bath comprising elementalhydrogenv and copper and afterwards to hydro-carbon and cooling slowly,all substantially as herein specified.

Signed at New York city this 30th day of January 1907.

JOHN J. BRADLEY. Witnesses:

GEO. MCKITTRICK, THOMAS DREW SrE'rsoN.

